Improvement in fire-kindlers



F. S. LEWIS. Pire- Kindler.

No. 201,|s4. Patented March 12, I878.

UNITED STATES PATENT OEEIoE.

FRANK s. made, or BROOKLYN, E. 1)., NEwYonK.

IMPROVEMENT IN FIRE-KINDLERS.'

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 201,184, dated March 12, 1878; application filed December 27,1877.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK S. LEwIs, of Brooklyn, E. D., in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented an Improvement in Fire-Kindlers, of which the following is a specification: V

Fire-kindlers have been made of square strips of wood with the ends sawed with longitudinal incisions, and in some instances these saw-cuts have been made in two direc tions to form groups of square projecting pieces at the ends of the strip. These are liable to be broken with the rough handling to which they are exposed, and, besides this, there is an unnecessary loss of wood in the material removed by the saws.

My present invention relates to a fire-kindler in which the saw-cuts are applied diagonally at the ends of the piece of wood, whereby there are sharp angles formed that facilitate the ignition by a match; and there are also triangular corner-pieces that are sufficiently strong to withstand the strain and concussion incident to handling, either separately or when introduced into a bundle of kindling-wood.

In the drawing, Figure 1 is a perspective View of one of the fire-kindlers, and Fig. 2 is an end View of the same.

The strip of wood is generally square, or nearly so, and of a suitable length.

The saw-cuts a are at one or both ends. They are diagonal, so that the corner-pieces b are triangular, and the edges 0 are sharp or acute angles, that very greatly facilitate lightmg.

The fire-kindler is preferably dipped in rosin or similar inflammable material.

When both ends are cut as aforesaid, the lighted match may be applied first to one end and then to the other, and thereby the body of flame will be increased.

In the manufacture of these kindlers, two gangs of saws may be used, cutting both ends at the same time.

I do not claim the fire-kindler with the ends formed as tongues with intermediate saw-cuts, and I am aware that blocks have been sawed across their faces diagonally in two directions. None of these kindlers are made of strips sawed diagonally at the ends to form tongues with acute angles, and with the strong trian gular corner-pieces b, for the purposes aforesaid.

I claim as my invention- The fire-kindlers made of wooden strips sawed at the ends diagonally, so as to present sharp angles 0 and triangular corners 11, substantially as set forth.

Signed by me this 18th day of December, A. D. 1877.

FRANK S. LEWIS.

Witnesses:

GEO. T. PiNoKNEY, CHAS. H. SMITH. 

